orig. Elizabeth Ann Bayley known as Mother Seton
born Aug. 28, 1774, New York, N.Y.
died Jan. 4, 1821, Emmitsburg, Md., U.S.; canonized Sept. 14, 1975; feast day January 4
U.S. religious leader and educator, the first native-born U.S. citizen canonized by the Roman Catholic church.
Born into an upper-class family, she married William Magee Seton in 1794. In 1797 she founded the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children, and in 1803 she was herself left a widow with five children. After converting from Episcopalianism to Roman Catholicism in 1805, she opened a free Catholic elementary school in Baltimore, Md., in 1809. In 1813 she founded the Sisters of Charity, the first U.S. religious order, and she served as its superior until her death. She is often considered the mother of the parochial school system in the U.S.